


A Losing Battle

by meevees



Series: digirim [4]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Digimon Adventure tri., Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Mecha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 08:43:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13163355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meevees/pseuds/meevees
Summary: When a battle against a kaiju takes a dark turn for the Warrior Omega team, Taichi has to risk it all to save his partner. [Pacific Rim Crossover AU]





	A Losing Battle

The reality of life is you win some and you lose some. Being a ranger really necessitated winning a lot more than you lost, but almost no Jaeger team had a perfect record. The problem in their field was that, more often than not, the first lost was also the last.

A huge category IV kaiju had emerged off the coast of Tokyo, and Warrior Omega and Imperial Dragon had been deployed on a two Jaeger drop to take it out. The situation had become so routine for their two teams by this stage of their careers that feelings were easy. Taichi was just excited to see some action again after a fairly long stretch of no activity in their area.

_ “Oi, oi, how about a little bet to make this one more interesting, guys?” _ Daisuke’s voice inquired playfully over the communicator from Imperial Dragon,  _ “Team who gets the kill wins. Losing team picks up the tab when we go out to celebrate our win!” _

_ “Motomiya, could you please take this seriously?” _  Came the exasperated response of Daisuke’s co-pilot, Ken; Taichi might not be able to see Ken, but he could imagine the other pilot’s eye-roll all the same.

But even Yamato, who was generally the more sensible member of his team, seemed to be feeling light-hearted today, “Alright, but when you guys lose I’m buying the most expensive stuff in the place.”

_ “I hate to be the one to spoil the fun,” _ Koushiro cut in, monitoring their conversation from his position at the LOCCENT command center, “But could we focus less on what you’re going to do after you’ve defeated the kaiju and more on the plan that supposed to get you there? Remember, Warrior Omega is moving in to take the offensive straightaway. Imperial Dragon, you’re staying back in preparation to hold the miracle mile if necessary should the kaiju break through Omega. Got it?”

“Yeah we got it, Sorry Koushiro.” Taichi responded with a needlessly apologetic tone. _ Just like we got it the first 20 times you went over it with us before we left _ , he added just for Yamato, who chuckled beside him.

 

“Hope you enjoy the view.” Yamato added for Daisuke and Ken’s benefit as Imperial Dragon fell into position and they pushed forward to engage with the kaiju.

Initially, the battle was deceptively easy. The kaiju, codename Sasori, was large and powerful, crawling on six legs and swinging a long, segmented tail with a nasty looking stinger behind it. Taichi and Yamato had fought so many like it now that they knew how to counter it. It would just take a while to wear it down, because of its massive size, but they’d put it almost exclusively on the defensive, so even that was going more quickly than expected.

But then the kaiju poised its tail and brought it straight down into the right side of Warrior Omega’s Conn-Pod. Normally this sort of attack would be a minor problem for them, only the kaiju didn’t stop there. Unexpectedly, it generated a strong current of electricity which travelled through its tail and into the Jaeger.

Pain wracked Taichi’s body, but he barely even noticed. Everything he was feeling, everything else around him, was completely drowned out by Yamato’s horrible screams of agony. Taichi was so overwhelmed he wasn’t sure if he was hearing them out loud, or in his head, or, most likely, both. He tried to clear his head enough to reach out to Yamato, to help him or at least keep him grounded and distracted from the pain. But the battlefield, their headspace, everything was chaos.

And then there was silence.

Imperial Dragon had reached them and slammed into Sasori, forcing it away from Warrior Omega at the critical moment. But the damage had been done. The machinery on the right side of her Conn-Pod had gone dark, and Yamato was hanging limply in his piloting equipment.

_ “Warrior Omega, are you still there?” _

Taichi had never heard Koushiro sound so unsettled before. With extreme difficulty, he reached for the switch that controlled his communicator and croaked out, “Y-yeah.”

_ “Taichi, your whole right hemisphere is fried. We’re not picking up any vital sign readings from Yamato. We’re not sure if it’s because the systems are down or–” _

Obviously Koushiro didn’t want to finish that sentence, and Taichi didn’t want him to either. He looked once again to Yamato’s prone body and shook his head violently, a pointless gestures since Koushiro couldn’t see him anyway, could only hear him, “He’s not dead. He’s not dead. He’s not, he’s not, he’s not.”

Taichi could hear how panicked he sounded, knew he wasn’t communicating well, but his brain still felt scrambled from the attack and he couldn’t make more coherent words come. He knew Yamato was still alive. He could still feel him in the drift, faint and hurt and fading fast, but unquestionably  _ there _ . But he doubted Koushiro had understood that.

And regardless, alive was the only good thing that could be said about their situation. With half of Warrior Omega’s functions inoperational they were dead in the water. Even if Koushiro could miraculously get her running again from LOCCENT, Taichi couldn’t pilot her without Yamato’s help. They were a giant, unmoving target for the kaiju to annihilate, and Imperial Dragon might not be able to hold it off.

Apparently Koushiro’s assessment of their situation was the same as his,  _ “Taichi, you need to evacuate now. Imperial Dragon will take it from here.” _

Normally Taichi hated to run away more than anything else, but this time Koushiro didn’t have to tell him twice. Feeling a sense of purpose again, Taichi cleared his head and sprung into action. First things first, he had to take care of his partner.

Taichi reached across the Conn-Pod’s console and pressed the button to activate Yamato’s escape pod. Nothing happened. He pressed it again, and several times more, frantically. There was still no response. Yamato’s escape pod had been fried along with everything else.

Taichi all but slammed his fist on the communicator switch, “Koushiro, Yamato’s escape pod isn’t working, can you fix it from there?”

The silence while Taichi was waiting for Koushiro to answer was agonizing, but his answer was even worse,  _ “Sorry, Taichi. That electrical current  fried the circuitry within Warrior Omega itself. We can’t get anything back online until she’s repaired.” _

For a moment, Taichi felt very far away from his own body. Yamato was hurt, and if he didn’t get help soon he would probably die. They were both sitting ducks waiting for Sasori to come and finish the job it had started. And they only had one functioning escape pod.

Then suddenly Taichi had an idea. It was crazy, and reckless, and everything Yamato would tell him not to do if he were awake. But Yamato was down and Taichi was desperate enough to try anything. “Just so you know, I’m about to do something incredibly stupid.” He informed LOCCENT before releasing the communicator and setting to work.

* * *

 

Taichi’s words were ominous, and they left a knot in the pit of Koushiro’s stomach. “Taichi, no, all you should be doing is evacuating immediately.”

But Koushiro knew the headstrong pilot well enough to know that Taichi had no intention of listening. Once Taichi had set his mind on something, the rest of them were just along for the ride. Koushiro could only hope that Taichi’s plan wouldn’t create more trouble for everyone.

“Pilot 1 has disconnected from the PONS system.” one of the technicians announced, and Koushiro’s heart sank. What was Taichi thinking?

“Pilot 2 has also disconnected.” Strange, since there had been zero response from Yamato since the attack.

A few minutes passed without any response from Warrior Omega. “Pilot 1 has reconnected,” the tech updated, “No…wait. They’ve switched places. Pilot 2 has reconnected. Pilot 1 is still offline. Still no vital signs from Pilot 2.”

An unimaginable sense of dread passed over Koushiro as all of the pieces clicked into place. “I think I just figure out what he’s up to and he’s right. It’s incredibly stupid.”

* * *

 

Taichi released the mechanism connecting Yamato to Warrior Omega’s control panel, and his co-pilot collapsed into his arms. The combined dead weight of Yamato and his intricate drivesuit was enough to nearly send Taichi toppling, but he fumbled a little and managed to stay on his feet. He dragged Yamato, as carefully but also a quickly as possible, to the left side of the Conn-Pod and began to strap him back in.

_ “Taichi, you need to stop this, it’s crazy.” _ Taichi was just about finished, but it seemed Koushiro had caught on to his plan.

“There’s nothing else I can do, I’m not leaving Yamato behind.”

_ “Yamato still isn’t registering any vital signs, even connected to the functioning equipment. I know it’s hard to take, but you need to prioritize your own escape.” _

“He’s. Not. Dead! I know he’s not! And he can’t get himself out of here, but I can. I’ll just go through the escape hatch, they can pick me up right off of Omega.”

_ “You’ll be defenseless. If the kaiju gets passed Imperial Dragon before the chopper gets to you…” _

“I guess we’ll have to hope that doesn’t happen.” Taichi’s voice betrayed no hesitation, and in truth that was because he felt none. The odds weren’t exactly stacked in his favor, but if it meant he could guarantee Yamato got out of here safely he wasn’t too concerned with the consequences.

Koushiro’s sigh was audible even over the intercom.  _ “Alright. Good luck, then. Chopper’s ETA is T minus 15 minutes.” _

His communication with LOCCENT cut off. Taichi gave Yamato one final once over the make sure everything was ready to go, and he hit the button for the functioning escape pod. “Hang in there, Yamato.”

And then he settled in to play the waiting game. Fifteen minutes wasn’t exactly a long time, but in his current situation it might as well have been three lifetimes. He switched his communicator back on to talk to Imperial Dragon, “You guys get all that?”

_ “Yeah! Don’t worry, Taichi, we’re gunna wreck this guy for you!”  _ Came Daisuke’s confident and enthusiastic response.

_ “Yes, we will not fail.” _ Ken agreed.

“You’d better not; I’m going to kick your butts if you do.” They were all aware of how empty the threat was, of course, but Taichi felt better just for talking to them. He was in good hands.

* * *

 

The rescue chopper picked Yamato up out of the water first, and Jou was on board ready for his arrival. From the briefing he’d gotten on the way here he was fully expecting the worst, but hoping beyond hope for the best.

As soon as the escape pod was open Jou was there, checking Yamato’s vitals with shaking hands. This was his job, and it sometimes came with bad news and he knew it, but the better he knew the pilots the harder it was to accept. And Taichi and Yamato were two of his closest friends.

“Taichi was right!” Jou exclaimed, releasing the breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, “He’s alive! Barely–it’s no wonder the machines couldn’t read his vitals–but still! Looks like the life support functions of the drivesuit held out and did their job.”

Jou shook his head and cleared his thoughts. As excited as he was that Yamato was alive, he wasn’t going to stay that way if Jou didn’t pull himself together and do something about it. “He needs oxygen, now!” Jou directed the med techs on board with him, “Get him out of that suit and on to proper life support.”

With just Yamato’s helmet removed, Jou could already see the electrical burns peeking out from beneath the collar of his drivesuit. He didn’t want to imagine the damage that was waiting beneath the suit, but there was little sense worrying about it now, since they couldn’t do anything until they returned to the Shatterdome and proper medical facilities. The priority now was keeping Yamato alive until they got there.

Taichi was waiting for them atop Warrior Omega, and as soon as he was in their grip the chopper was changing course and heading back towards base before the kaiju could break away from Imperial Dragon and target them. Jou couldn’t help but think that it was no small miracle that they had successfully extracted both pilots from the situation this time, as much as he had tried not to be pessimistic about saving his friends. He doubted anyone on board had been expecting it.

“Is Yamato okay?” Taichi barely had both feet on the helicopter floor before the question was rushing out of his mouth.

“Well, I don’t know if I would say ‘okay,’” Jou began hurriedly, “I mean, he might never be able to use that right arm again, but we won’t really be able to assess the damage, or any internal damage, until we get him back and–”

Taichi’s entire body was shaking violently, his nose was bleeding, and although Jou had never even seen him close to it before, he looked to be on the verge of tears. _Calm down, Jou, you are so not helping._ He told himself.

“–but don’t worry. He’ll be fine. You did it. You saved him.”

“Thank goodness.” Jou didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone sound so relieved, nevermind that Taichi should be relieved that he’d walked away from this and would see tomorrow himself; that didn’t even seem to be on his radar.

Removed from the immediacy and danger of the situation, shock and mental exhaustion settled in for Taichi, who wasn’t able to offer much better than one word answers after that. But overall he was in better shape than they could have expected: besides the nosebleed, which was fairly routine, he didn’t seem to be suffering any side effects from supporting the neural load of the Jaeger by himself. He was smart to have disconnected himself so quickly after Yamato had lost consciousness, although yet again he probably hadn’t even been thinking about himself at the time. Now he sat rather like a rag doll, passively accepting whatever was done to him as Jou checked him over.

But he was alright. Somehow, miraculously, at least for now, everyone was alright.

* * *

 

Yamato came to slowly, to the sense of a dull ache in his right arm and bright lights obscuring his vision. It took him a few minutes to be aware of much of anything, and then a few more to be clear enough to realize he was in a hospital room, and by then the doctors had descended upon him, checking readings on machines, poking and prodding him, asking an inane series of questions (“What’s your name?” “Your birthday?” “Who is the current prime minister?”).

He’d nearly died fighting kaiju, apparently, although Yamato couldn’t remember much of the event himself. The doctors gave him what he was sure was the abridged version of the battle to avoid upsetting him, explained how they’d been treating him, and left him to himself to take it in. Contrary to how he would normally feel in a stressful situation, the last thing Yamato wanted in that moment was to be alone with his thoughts. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long for company.

“Yamato, you’re awake!” Taichi burst into the room, shouting as if he were surprised to find Yamato conscious and hadn’t come rushing down here specifically to see him, “I’m so glad! We got electrocuted by that kaiju, and your heart actually stopped, but your drivesuit kept you alive but the doctors decided to keep you in a medically induced coma because they thought the pain from your burns would be too bad if you were awake so you’ve been out for like a week but now you’re finally back!”

Yamato had already had all of this explained to him by the doctors, of course, and they’d been much more delicate about it, but he let Taichi talk because he knew that’s what his partner needed to do. It was better than the eerie silence he’d been left in before, at any rate.

“Anyway, how do you feel?”

“Honestly? I don’t feel much.” Yamato shrugged, a slightly lopsided gesture since his right side still hadn’t quite recovered. “I think they’ve still got me on a whole lot of drugs.”

Taichi laughed, but he looked nervous, “But I mean, you can feel it, right? They weren’t sure if–”

“Yeah, I can.” That had been mentioned to him as well, that there’d been a chance he wouldn’t be able to use his arm again. Now that he’d come around they’d determined that most likely, besides dead nerve endings as a result of his burns and some numbness in his finger tips, his arm would be fully functional again. “Sorry, looks like you’re stuck with me as a co-pilot.”

“Don’t even joke, man. As if I would ever pilot with anyone besides you.” Taichi’s tone was hard, and Yamato was taken aback by how angry he’d actually gotten over what had been intended as a simple joke. Apparently Taichi was more shaken up by his close call than Yamato had realized.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak out like that,” Taichi continued, “It’s just, people have seriously been talking about that to me this week. They were acting like you were dead or something. I couldn’t stand it.”

Yamato didn’t answer right away, not sure what to say. Suddenly (not unlike being struck by a bolt of lightning, if Yamato could have a sense of humor about it) he remembered one thing about the kaiju attack the week before very clearly. But the memories were Taichi’s. When he finally found his voice again, it was barely above a whisper, “Well, they would be right if it weren’t for you.”

Taichi looked very quickly away from Yamato, “What are you talking about?” the only lame excuse he had to offer. He hadn’t had any intention of telling Yamato what he had done that day, but apparently someone else had beaten him to it anyway.

“You’re the one who told me,” Yamato answered, even though Taichi hadn’t said anything about it aloud, “When we were drifting. I couldn’t possibly know it then, obviously, but I guess your thoughts still got through.”

“Well, you would have done something equally stupid if you’d been in my position, too, don’t even try to act like you wouldn’t.” Taichi replied, immediately going on the defensive.

“I…didn’t say I was mad,” Yamato offered Taichi a rare smile, “You saved my life, Taichi. Thanks.”

“Hey, it was nothing.” It might have been the biggest lie Taichi had ever told, but he would have done what he did a thousand times over given the chance, so maybe not.

“Seriously, though, if you had gotten your sorry ass killed trying to save my life, I would have never forgiven you, I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Now Taichi could return Yamato’s smile. That was his Yamato. It wasn’t like him to be so forward with his emotions, especially when it was just as easy to leave those things unsaid between them. They both knew it all, anyway.

They’d been sitting in silence for a few moments after that when Yamato suddenly sat up as if he had thought of something. He gave Taichi an inquisitive look, “Hey, do you think Daisuke is still going to make us buy him those drinks?”

Taichi punch Yamato square in his good arm. How, after everything, he could even be thinking about that stupid bet right now, was beyond Taichi. “Unbelievable.”

Still, they both laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Written years ago, like the rest of the series, never posted outside of tumblr. Getting hype for Uprising, hoping it might inspire to write some more in this universe.


End file.
